I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sport devices and, more particularly, to a football kicking apparatus to practice soccer style football kicks.
II. Description of Material Art
In the game of American football, the football kicker is oftentimes one of the most important players on the team. The football kicker not only kicks the ball to the other side during the opening of a half or after a touchdown has been scored, but also scores points by kicking the point after touchdown as well as field goals.
Many modern football kickers use the so-called “soccer style” kick. In the soccer style kick, the kicker moves towards the ball from one side of the ball and kicks the ball from the side with the instep of his or her foot. Such a soccer style kick has proven effective for experienced players.
In order for the football kicker to become proficient in accurately kicking the ball with sufficient distance, the kicker must continually practice his or her kicking skills. In addition, during a football game, football kickers often kick practice kicks along the sidelines in order to warm up in preparation for the actual football kick during the football game.
There have been previously known devices for a football player to practice his or her kick. In one such device, the football is maintained in a substantially vertical position while a holder is positioned on top of the football. The football player then kicks the football into a net positioned in front of a player. After the practice kick, the player retrieves the ball, repositions it on a holder, and then repeats the practice kick.
One disadvantage of these previously known holders and nets for practice kicking is that the ball must be retrieved after every kick and repositioned on the holder in preparation for the subsequent kick. Consequently, it takes a relatively long period of time to retrieve and reposition the ball on the holder for each kick so that only a limited number of practice kicks can be performed in a given time period. This, furthermore, is particularly critical during the play of an actual football game since the football punter and field goal kicker often will share the same net and only one of them can use the net at one time.